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backward index mystery
Words Matter

The True Story of the Backward Index

These people needed a computer

There it sits, hidden in plain view on a set of shelves in the basement of the Merriam-Webster offices: the Backward Index. But why would anyone type out 315,000 words spelled in reverse?

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play backward index mystery
The True Story of the Backward Index

 

These people needed a computer

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Is It 'day today' or 'day-to-day'?

 

What about Day Tomorrow?

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Alright vs. All Right

 

Is 'alright' all right?

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What is a malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

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The Serial Comma Explained

 

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

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Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

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Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
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The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
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